Coffee Buds

10. Decaf

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It took three days for Amanda to get her father alone and talk about what has been going on in her mind. After days of contemplating ways that she could present and defend her case, she was still nervous to talk to her father about it.

She had stopped by the coffee shop earlier on that day and Clark had given her another something new to add to her experience. It was a decaf that she immediately hated. Even her face couldn’t try to fake another reaction at that thing.

Maybe she just wasn’t destined to be a coffee person. She guessed she will have to stick to her juice and milk.

Though the taste of the decaf still lingered on her tongue, it didn’t take the taste of Clark’s lips on her when they made out in the break room.

Now, not even that could calm her nerves.

She took a deep breath and knocked on her father’s study door. An answer came a second later.

She wanted in and found him, his face buried in a file. Probably another one of his buildings he wanted to tear down and misplace people. He was taking their home from them so he could make more money. She didn’t understand how he could make her do the same thing.

One time, her mom couldn’t pay rent for two months and their landlord gave them an evacuation notice. She remembered finding her mom in the kitchen crying as more bills piled up that she couldn’t pay for. All because most of the money to her, to make sure she had the best education. And now she discovered her father had all of these buildings and he could have helped her mother made her angry. She remembered when she first learnt of it how she wanted nothing to do with her father. She even tried to ran away but was brought back here from the police station after she was caught stealing. Her home had become more of a prison that the jail that that place.

“Daughter?” her father acknowledged.

Why did every time he said that, it sounded more like an insult than anything else?

“Father,” she tried to make her voice like his, carrying the same weight as his words but it was impossible. It couldn’t put that much coldness in her words.

“how can I help you?” he asked, not looking up from his paper.

“Help? Can you really do that when I ask?” Amanda said.

He finally looked up from his paper, his eyebrows furrowed. “Of course.”

Amanda has never asked anything from her father, so she didn’t know if his words meant anything.

Time to try her case.

“Don’t demolish the coffee shop,” Amanda said, getting ready to defend her case.

She watched as her father leaned back in his chair and looked at her. “You seem to have a lot of interest in this coffee shop.”

Amanda nodded. “It’s special.”

He brought his pen to his mouth and pit the end. “Special? How special can a simple coffee shop be?”

Because the man that your daughter was in love with owned it.

The thought scared even herself. But it was somehow the truth. But emotion wouldn’t work on this man, she reminded herself. It hadn’t worked ever since she came into his life and ruined everything for him. Though he never said as much, but Amanda always felt so.

“It is one of the few remaining original buildings on that block. Once you take it out, it’s like you have uprooted another landmark,” she defended.

Her father looked amused. “That building is not a landmark.”

“It might not be, but it means a lot to people.”

Including me, she didn’t say.

Her father sighed. “Daughter, the world is tough out there and changing. We can’t hold on to the past, but look forward to the future. You get that right?”

No, she didn’t get it. She didn’t understand why people decided to bury the past and look forward to the future. She got that it was less painful, but still. Sometimes the past taught us lessons that we wouldn’t learn anywhere. Her past had taught her something, and it continued to as she looked at this never changing man. If she had no prerequisite, how would she know what she was doing?

“I get that the world is changing. But we can’t keep changing everything that is the past, so we could move forward. We can move forward by holding on to the past, and remembering those that had lived before us and keeping their dreams alive,” she said. “how would you feel if somewhere in the future someone decided to destroy and rebuild what you have worked so hard your whole life for to rebuild?”

Damn, she never knew she could speak so much at once. It came as shocking to her as it did to her father.

She could tell he was mulling over her words. She knew she wasn’t supposed to use emotion in her speech but sometimes it couldn’t help by slip in.

“If it is for the betterment of the community, then I would be okay with the rebuilding,” her father finally said.

“So you think destroying that building will benefit the community? Don’t know that by doing exactly that, you are ruining the community?”

“Daughter-”

“No, I’ve never asked you for anything since I got in this house. I’ve done everything you have ever wanted me to do. I never even realized my own dreams because all I ever thought about were yours. I’ve never fought for anything in my life because you always seemed to provide it without ask,” Amanda said. She knew her logically thought of plans were gone as her emotions took over. “You never asked once what I wanted. But, I want this, dad. I’ve never wanted anything in my life like I want this. That shop is the only source of happiness I’ve had in a long time. Please, don’t take that away from me too.”

She knew she was a mess by the time she stopped talking. She didn’t wait for a response from her dad. She walked out of the room and locked herself in her, to let everything she has felt over the years out.

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CheekySally21